A BUSINESSMAN continually harassed former Rover MG boss John Towers and his wife, and on one occasion forced himself into their Warwickshire home, over a £41,000 debt.

Coventry magistrates heard that Chris Wilkes, aged 42, aggressively called the couple and sent threatening letters from July 2005 until March this year after MG Rover collapsed, owing Wilkes' company, Power Security, more than £41,000.

Wilkes did not turn up at court but was found guilty of harassment. A warrant was issued for his arrest.

Prosecuting, Iain Willis told the court that Wilkes, of Lichfield, Staffordshire, first sent a letter to all 13 of MG Rover's former directors asking for the money, but took to dealing with just Mr Towers after being asked to.

Mr Towers is chairman of Phoenix Venture Holdings, which acquired MG Rover for £10, and is not personally liable for the collapse of MG Rover.

After appealing to the Department of Trade and Industry and finding out he could do no more, Mr Towers told Wilkes to get in touch with the administrators.

Mr Towers said: "The message in his calls was quite intimidating.

"He said he had visited my house on several occasions, he knew what kind of cars we had, he knew we had CCTV, and I felt uneasy.

"He was implicitly, if not explicitly, threatening."

As well as the calls, Wilkes also went to the home of Mr Towers and his wife Bethany in Bourton on Dunsmore, near Rugby, on October 13 when Mrs Towers was at home alone.

She told magistrates he had arrived in a people carrier with blacked-out windows and came to the door with two other men.

When she refused to let him in he put his foot in the door and barged his way in, she claimed.

The police were called and Wilkes was arrested.

Mrs Towers said: "At one stage I thought he was going to attack me.

"He said he would damage our cars beyond repair.

"He said we had ruined his Christmas and he would see to it that ours would be ruined.

"After he was let out of the police station he called at 9pm that night and said he would rather do life in prison than lose his house and I felt very frightened.

"I was frightened about going outside with our dog."

The court heard calls made by Wilkes that the couple had recorded, and saw footage from their security cameras of the day he had called round and arrested.

In the calls he made, he repeated threats that he would never give up, he wanted his money and he would call round to the property again to get it.

Wilkes was tried in his absence after failing to turn up to court.

After defence lawyer John Western called him, he claimed a recurring back problem had returned and he was trying to get a doctor's certificate.

No defence was heard as Mr Western had to withdraw from the proceedings because he had been given no instructions.